Flashlight and reflector assembly therefor



April 7, 6 R. H. PARKER 3,123,050

FLASHLIGHT AND REFLECTOR ASSEMBLY THEREFOR Fil ed July 20, 1960 2Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR. RICH/92D !9- PIP/FE? A ril 7, 1964 R. H.PARKER 3,128,050

FLASHLIGHT AND REFLECTOR ASSEMBLY THEREFOR Filed July 20, 1960 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. BIC/420 PIZAEB United States Patent 3,128,050FLASHLIGHT AND REFLECTOR ASSEMBLY THEREFOR Richard H. Parker, St.Albans, Vt., assignor to Union Carbide Corporation, a corporation of NewYork 0 Filed July 20, 1960, Ser. No. 44,092

1 Claim. (Cl. 240-10.66)

This invention relates to a flashlight and, more particularly, itconcerns the provision of an improved reflector assembly foraflashlight.

Ina reflector assembly of the type to which the invention particularlyrefers, there is employed a reflector body composed of a non-conductivematerial, such as plastic, having a metallic reflecting coating thereon,and lamp retainer parts which are detachable for replacement of thelarnpwhen needed. Heretofore, because these parts have been made threadablymountable to the reflector body, difficulty has been experienced both inthe manufacture and use of a flashlight incorporating a reflectorassembly of this type. For instance, it has been common for the lampretainer parts of the reflector assembly to become loosened during useof the flashlight, or for these parts to have never been sufficientlytightened during manufacture, with the result that contact with the lampmay frequently be lost during use of the flashlight subjecting it tointerrupted operation.

It is therefore an important object of the invention to provide animproved reflector assembly for a flashlight.

It is a more specific object to provide a reflector assembly of the typehaving a reflector body composed of a non-conductive material having areflecting surface thereon and having lamp retainer parts which aredetachable for replacement of the lamp when needed and which at the sametime, in addition to being easily and quickly assembled duringmanufacture, are notsubject to becoming loosened during use of theflashlight.

Still another object is to provide a reflector assembly which is simplein construction and highly economical to manufacture.

These objects are accomplished by the invention which comprises areflector assembly for a flashlight having a reflector body composed ofa non-conductive material having a reflecting surface thereon and havinga lamp retainer plug which is detachably snapped into place within thereflector body.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view, partly broken away, of a flashlightembodying the principles of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged detail sectional view of a reflector assemblyembodying the invention; and

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the reflector assembly parts shown in FIG.2.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 a flashlight ofa conventional construction having a flashlight casing within which aredisposed batteries 12, the casing 10 being composed suitably of a thingage metal such as, for example, chrome plated steel. Mounted to thecasing 10 is a switch 14 and inside'the casing 10 is a switch contactormember 16 which is mounted to the switch 14 and movable there- With.Indicated generally at 18 is a reflector assembly embodying theinvention positioned within the forward end of the casing 10 Whichtogether with a lens 20 is held in place by a lens ring 22, suitably ofplastic, which is threaded onto the casing at 24.

As shown in detail in FIGS. 2 and 3, the reflector assembly 18 is of thetype comprising a molded reflector body 26 composed of a non-conductivematerial, such as plastic, for instance, polystyrene, and havingsubstantially corresponding concavo-convex sides, the concave side ofwhich is provided with a metallic reflect- 3,128,058 Patented Apr. 7,1964 Ice ing coating 28, and a central apertured cylindrical neck 30.The reflecting coating 28 suitably may be composed of aluminum and maybe applied to the reflector body 26 by conventional vacuum-metallizingtechniques.

Co-axially mounted to the reflector body 26 within the aperturedcylindrical neck 30 is a contact shell 32,

a lamp 34 and a lamp retainer plug 36. The contact shell 32 is composedof metal and is preferably of frustroconical shape with a tubular socket38 axially formed therein. The tubular socket 38 is fixedly sleeved intothe apertured neck 30 of the reflector body 26 and has a flanged end 40which interlocks with an annular flange 42 which is integrally molded tothe opening of the and out of contact With the reflector body 26. The II flanged end 40 of the tubular socket 38 also provides a seat againstwhich is mounted the flanged neck 46 of the lamp 34. The lamp 34 is ofthe conventional type having a cylindrical base 48 including a buttontype termina150.

The lamp retainer plug 36 is tubular shaped and is composed of aresilient material, preferably a molded plastic, for instance,polyethylene. It'has asocket 52 within which is disposed the base 48 ofthe lamp 34 and a substantially U-shaped leaf type spring 54 which makescontact With the terminal 50 of the lamp 34. The leaf spring 54 extendsthrough a slot 56 in the closed endof the retainer plug 36 and residespartly outside of the plug in a recessed portion 58. This recessedportion 58 is fashioned to receive the terminal of one of the batteries12 within the casing 10 of the flashlight,

as indicated at 60 in FIG. 1, and serves to locate and centralize thebatteries 12 making it easier toassemble all component parts of theflashlight.

Provision is made in accordance with the invention for detachablysnapping the lamp retainer plug 36 in place within the reflector body26. For this purpose,

the lamp retainer'plug 36 is provided at its'forward end with an annulargroove 62. Coinciding with this groove, the tubular socket 38 has agroup of radially inwardly directed projections 64 which, as best seenin FIG. 3, are provided at spaced radial intervals about the innercircumference of the tubular socket 38. While it will be understood, ofcourse, that other similar means may be utilized inplace of theseprojections, for instance, an annular bead may be used equally as Well,they are preferred in the embodiment of the reflector assembly shown.

To attach the lamp retainer plug 36, for instance, during manufacture,it is a simple matter to snap it in place Within the reflector body 26by pushing it into the tubular socket 38 until the projections 64 andthe groove 62 engage. Once attached, due to its flexibility, it beingslightly under compression when snapped into place, and due also to therigidity of the tubular socket 38, the lamp retainer plug 36 is heldfirmly in place so that it is not apt to become detached or loosenedduring use of the flashlight. When replacement of the lamp 34 is needed,it is an equally simple matter to detach the lamp retainer plug 36 bypulling it out of the tubular socket 38. For the purpose of grasping theplug 36, it is provided with aknurled portion 66 at its outer end.

Referring again to the flashlight shown in FIG. 1,-the flashlightcircuit which includes the reflector assembly 18 is completed by settingthe switch 14 on the flashlight casing forwardly to the on position ofthe switch. This causes the switch contactor member 16 movably with theswitch 14 to come into contact with the radially outwardly projectingskirt portion 44 of the contact shell 32, thereby to complete thecircuit. In the reflector assembly 18, contact with the lamp 34 isachieved through the contact shell 32 and specifically through theflanged end 40 of the tubular socket 38 which is in contact with theflanged neck 46 of the lamp 34. This contact is maintained by theforward end of the lamp retainer plug 36 which when attached Within thereflector body 26 urges the flanged neck 46 of the lamp 34 against itsseat provided by the tubular socket 38 at its flanged end 40. It willalso be noted that the lamp retainer plug 36 supports the load of thebatteries 12 within the casing 10 so that in the event the flashlight isdropped, for example, the batteries 12 will not press against the lamp34 and cause it to fail. When it is desired to open the circuit, theswitch 14 is set rearwardly to the off position of the switch, and thecontactor member 16 is withdrawn from the contact shell 32 to an out ofcontact position as shown. It will be appreciated that the invention isnot limited to use in a flashlight having a movable type switch, butthat it may also be used as well in a flashlight which employs a locktype switch, for example.

It will thus be readily seen that a reflector assembly embodying theinvention offers several advantages which are outstanding. For one, itconsists of lamp retainer parts which are simple in construction, whichmay be quickly assembled during manufacture and which are quicklydetachable for replacement of the lamp when needed, but which at thesame time are not subject to being easily loosened during use of theflashlight. It will be particularly noted, for example, that allthreaded parts of the reflector assembly, heretofore employed, have beeneliminated by the invention. Also, an important feature of the reflectorassembly is the use of a leaf type spring to make contact with the baseterminal of the lamp. This feature eliminates the customary use of acoil type spring which has been troublesome in the past and provides forpositive contact with the lamp and battery terminals and for easy andquick assembly during manufacture. It will, of course, be understoodthat the scope of invention is by no means limited to the specificembodiment of a flashlight shown and described herein, but may beemployed in a variety of flashlight constructions as well as other typesof illumination devices, for example, a conventional type lantern.

What is claimed is:

In a flashlight having a casing, a movable switch mounted on said casingand inside said casing a plurality of battery cells and a switchcontactor member mounted to said switch, the combination of a moldedplastic reflector body mounted in one end of said casing, said reflectorbody having substantially corresponding concavo-convex sides and acentral apertured cylindrical neck, the concave side of said reflectorbody having a metallic reflecting coating therein, a metallic contactshell, said contact shell including a rigid tubular socket co-axiallysleeved into the cylindrical neck of said reflector body and an integralskirt portion projecting radially outwardly from and out of contact withsaid reflector body, said skirt portion being adapted to make electricalcontact with said switch contactor member in one position of saidswitch, said tubular socket having a plurality of annularly disposedsubstantially equally spaced projections directed radially inwardly fromits inner wall, a resilient plastic lamp retainer plug, said plug havingan open forward end for receiving a lamp provided with a flange aroundthe neck thereof and a closed end, the forward end of said plug beingdetachably snapped into place in said tubular socket by means of anannular groove so positioned on its exterior surface as to engage saidplurality of spaced projections when said plug is pushed into saidtubular socket to seat the flange of the lamp therein, said closed endof said plug having a recessed portion for receiving the terminal of oneof said battery cells in said casing, and a generally U-shaped leafspring mounted in said closed end of said plug, one leg of which makeselectrical contact with the base of said flashlight lamp and the otherleg of which resides in said recessed portion for contacting saidbattery cell terminal and for aligning said reflector body and plug withsaid battery cells in said casing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,361,846 Gallagher Dec. 14, 1920 2,651,763 Grimsley Sept. 8, 19532,804,541 Schotz Aug. 27, 1957 2,817,754 Moore Dec. 24, 1957 2,830,173Lambert Apr. 8, 1958 2,891,103 Swengel June 16, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS705,809 Great Britain Mar. 17, 1954

